RS

MEMBER DIARY

Mitch McConnell called the tea party hostage-takers, so the left now has a free pass?

The lack of “civility” on the left has been stunning. Tea partiers have been called “hostage-takers” and “terrorists”–something REAL terrorists are never called. But does the left now have a free pass at their insults, care of Mitch McConnell?

Much-cited has been this Mitch McConnell quote in the August 2nd Washington Post:

In debt deal, the triumph of the old Washington
(…)
Out at the Capitol, behind the four doors and the three receptionists and the police guard, McConnell said he could imagine doing this again.

“I think some of our members may have thought the default issue was a hostage you might take a chance at shooting,” he said. “Most of us didn’t think that. What we did learn is this — it’s a hostage that’s worth ransoming. And it focuses the Congress on something that must be done.”

Was McConnell quoted accurately, in proper context? He hasn’t provided any further explanation.

Whatever the case may be, Mitch McConnell does not speak for the tea party and he does not speak for me. Calling the tea party “hostage-takers” is offensive on its face.

The left is saying that Mitch McConnell said it, so the insults are all OK now. Just as someone once said “teabagger” (an offensive sexual slang term), so it’s proper to call the tea party “teabaggers.” Just as some blacks have used the N-word, so it’s appropriate in every context to call a black person the N-word. No, of course THAT isn’t appropriate. But the tea party can be insulted because Mitch McConnell said it’s OK.

Rachel Maddow’s show last night (I watch to catch up on liberal slang terms and thinking) was terrible, dragging in the long-dead horse of Obama’s birth certificate on his 50th birthday. In the FAA story (told with the usual one-sided bias), Maddow said the McConnell’s quote gives her a free pass to insult the tea party:

So it’s the full faith and credit of the United States of America that makes for a hostage worth ransoming, or it’s the Federal Aviation Administration that apparently makes for a hostage worth ransoming. This is how Republicans plan to work, apparently, from here on out. Hostages. They’re not saying, “Don’t call us hostage-takers!” They’re saying, “Yeah, we’re taking hostages.” Causing real harm to the country, particularly the economy, to try to get by force what they do not have the votes for. That is how Republicans say they are going to handle the responsibility of governing from here on out.

No. I know of no tea party member who says that he or she is taking hostages. This is dishonest and Maddow knows it or should know it.

MSNBC gets its information from ThinkProgress, which ran a story on the McConnel quote yesterday. The comments are about as you’d expect.

Two Editorialists in One!
■”Froma Harrop, a member of The [Providence] Journal’s editorial board and a syndicated columnist, has been named president of the National Conference of Editorial Writers. The NCEW is a 64-year-old professional organization. Its members include editorial writers, editors, broadcasters and online opinion writers. One of its new missions, the Civility Project, endeavors to improve the quality of political discourse.”–Providence Journal, April 15
■”Make no mistake: The tea party Republicans have engaged in economic terrorism against the United States–threatening to blow up the economy if they don’t get what they want. And like the al-Qaida bombers, what they want is delusional: the dream of restoring some fantasy caliphate. . . . Americans are not supposed to negotiate with terrorists, but that’s what Obama has been doing. . . . That the Republican leadership couldn’t control a small group of ignoramuses in its ranks has brought disgrace on their party. But oddly, Obama’s passivity made it hard for responsible Republicans to control their destructive children. The GOP extremists would ask Obama for his firstborn, and he’d say, ‘OK.’ So they think, why not ask for his second-born, to which he responds, ‘Let’s talk.’ “–Froma Harrop syndicated column, Aug. 2

Ace adds:

Bitch Doubles Down: She actually claims that what she said is perfectly civil.

She claims her statements are factual – the Tea Party really is engaging in terrorism, hence this isn’t incivil. It’s just a fact.

SUMMARY
The tea party is composed of concerned citizens who want to save a country drowning in debt. Tea partiers are not terrorists and they’re not hostage-takers.

Nidal Malik Hasan killed 14 people and injured 29 others at Fort Hood in November 2009. He shouted “Allahu Akhbar!” while he was shooting. Neither our president nor our vice president can call him a terrorist. No, only the tea partiers are terrorists.

I can’t speak for what Mitch McConnell said, and again, he doesn’t speak for me. I live in Texas and he’s a senator from Kentucky. He can clarify his remarks if he wants to. I don’t care.

Anyone in politics or in the media who calls me a terrorist should be fired and should not hold a position of responsibility.